CDs as Cultural Indicators

As I was reading through the headline stories this morning, I was surprised by the number of mentions of compact discs.  What part do compact discs (CDs) play in the socio-politico-economico-cultural sphere of life?  This project uses the Yahoo! search engines in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan respectively, to retrieve all stories with the word 光碟 (="laser disc", literally) in the headline during the first half of November 2005.  And then I have summarized the stories in brief.  You can think about what this says about the three places.

MAINLAND CHINA

• (Guangming Net)  (November 13, 2005)  On October 21, 2001, the deputy party secretary of Heiyuan City, Guangdong, received a package with four photographs, a VCD and a letter.  The photographs and VCD show a naked man (himself) and a naked woman.  The letter demanded 1.5 million yuan to be a deposited into a bank account or else ... from there on, it was all downhill for his life ...
• (Qianlong)  (November 12, 2005)  A local resident committee member installed a wireless camera in a hotel room and took films of dozens of couples for the purpose of blackmailing.
• (Zhongxin Agency)  (November 11, 2005)  The Department of Culture in Guangzhou destroyed 5 million illegal pirated VCDs.  This follows the 8 million destroyed on the 25th of last month.  
• (Xian Evening News)  (November 9, 2005)  Recently, the police searched the Lianwu district and confiscated more than 80 videotapes, more than 70 pornographic electronic publications, 260 pirated VCDs, more than 300 pirated DVDs, more than 300 mp3 CDs and more than 200 game CDs.
• (Xinhua Hubei)  (November 8, 2005)  More than 100 inspectors from the Department of Culture in Wuhan searched 110 video stores and confiscated almost 200,000 pirated VCDs.
• (Sichuan Online)  (November 8, 2005)  A Deyang City citizen took videos of taxi cabs violating regulations (such as stopping anywhere, U-turning at will, parking anywhere, etc) and made a VCD for the traffic police.  
• (Strait Metropolitan News)  (November 5, 2005)  In Sanming city, three young men saw a young girl alone and went up to harrass her.  When she told them off, they kidnapped and then raped her.  According to the testimony of the arrestees, they learned how to do it from pornographic VCDs. 
• (Xinhua Net)  (November 4, 2005)  In Shanghai, police raided a factory and found more than 30,000 pirated CDs, including more than 1,000 pornographic VCDs.  Among them are VCDs with the cover of a naked woman standing next to a man dressed in traditional Korean clothing; the title of the movie was Jewel in the Palace (大长今), as in the current hit drama.
• (Sichuan News Net)  (November 4, 2005)  In Chengdu, the police raided the Century Computer City mall and found an underground garage which had 90,000 illegal CDs.  Three men were arrested.
• (Zhijiang Daily)  (November 4, 2005)  A gang operating under the name of the "Department of Education's 15th Curriculum Plan For Elementary and Secondary Students and Research to Nurture Creativity" used faked documents to rent space from a bookstore for the purpose of selling pirated CDs.  The gang sent letters to tell the schools that the Department of Education makes it mandatory for the students to watch the televised lectures and then the gang would sell the pirated VCDs afterwards.
• (Xinhua Urumqi)  (November 1, 2005)  A couple running a video store in Urumqi were sentenced to jail 3 years and 30,000 yuan in fine for pirating CDs and selling pornographic VCDs.  The haul included 35,120 pirated CDs and 953 pornographic VCDs.

HONG KONG

• (Ming Pao)  (November 13, 2005)  Yesterday morning at around 3am, the police searched an apartment unit in Mongkok and found more than 5,000 pirated pornographic CD's.  A 34-year-old man was arrested at the scene.  Two computers and eight CD burners were confiscated.
• (Oriental Daily)  (November 11, 2005)  A senior police officer was caught stealing a video compact disc in a record store.  At the time, an undercover security guard observed an individual carrying a store plastic bag, took a VCD off the shelf, went towards a corner, peeled off the anti-theft device, placed the VCD into his bag and walked out.  The individual was accosted outside the store and arrested.  In his own defense, the police officer claimed that he had injured his head two years ago while on duty and lost his sense of smell.  Therefore, his social life was a mess and he became psychologically distressed to the point where he stole a HK$85 VCD from a store.  In consideration of the absence of any prior records plus the fact that the defendant is due to retire with pension in three years' time, the judge found the defendant guilty as charged, but without having to serve any jail time.  The defendant is therefore still eligible for pension depending on good behavior afterwards.
• (Ming Pao)  (November 10, 2005)  The government proposed yesterday to relax the importing of VCDs from the current 18 months after the initial release to only 9 months.  Compared to the original local productions, the imports are generally cheaper (e.g. from mainland China).  Both the Hong Kong Motion Pictures Industry Association and retailers have reservations about the proposal.  The industry association is concerned that many pirated copies will attempt to be passed off as imports, and not even the Customs Department can tell the difference.  The retailers do not think that they have the ability to verify which imports have met the 9 month (or 18 month, for that matter) threshold.
• (Yahoo! News)  (November 2, 2005)  Yesterday at 3pm, the police raided the shops in a shopping mall on Shantung Street in the Mongkok district.  They found about 3,000 pornographic VCDs and arrested one person.  Later on, a man who claimed to be the shopowner pointed a knife at his own neck and threatened to kill himself.  He was persuaded to disarm and then he was arrested.

TAIWAN

• (FTV)  (November 14, 2005)  A married veteran dentist at the Kaohsiung Military Hospital received a blackmail note for NT$20 million along with a CD of him and his girlfriend going in and out of a motel.  The victim reported the incident to the police, who found out that the blackmailer was the man's colleague at the hospital and the true purpose was to seek a promotion over and above the victim.
• (TVBS)  (November 13, 2005)  In the midst of the election campaign in Taoyuan county, the police found a VCD made about the KMT candidate.  According to those who have seen it, the VCD shows a group of men and women chatting around a table, hinting that the man is having affairs with a female television host as well as his secretary; even his father-in-law has a girlfriend on the side; and then the VCD goes on to allege that the man abused his power in a news report format.  No one is in trouble, since the VCD has not been released; if released, it may be construed as attempting to affect the outcome of the election if the details are inaccurate.
• (ET TODAY)  (November 13, 2005)  The man suspected of directing the aforementioned VCD said that it was no big deal, because he already has a second and third volume planned.  The production work was apparently carefully planned, so that none of the people knew who did what else (scripting; acting; directing; filming; editing; soundtrack; etc).
• (TVBS)  (November 11, 2005)  TV host Hu Gua became the sujbect of a threat posed through a VCD.  On the disk, a person in black clothes accused Hu Gua of cheating in gambling; "if Hu Gua does not repay the money, he will have to suffer the consequences."
• (China Times)  (November 11, 2005)  In the case of the blackmailing and extortion of entertainer celebrity Peng Chia-chia, the prosecutor has charged five persons in the case, including the female principal Lu Ching.  In total, Peng has paid a total of NT$44.7 million to various individuals.  The contents of the VCD (and the full video tape) of Peng Chia-chia masturbating in front of Lu Ching were also described to the public in graphic detail.
• (ET Today)  (November 11, 2005)  The police followed a tip and arrested two young male workers selling pirated VCDs and CDs at a stall in the night market.  More than 5,000 discs were confiscated.
• (CNA) (November 7, 2005)  A man was having an affair with his younger sister-in-law over eight years.  When the woman wanted to go with someone else, the man made a VCD of the woman having a bath as well as having sexual intercourse with him to blackmail her into continuing the relationship.  She called the police instead.
• (ET Today)  (November 1, 2005)  In the case of the former prosecutor facing corruption charges that may lead to life imprisonment, the rumor was that he had made a 'life-saving' VCD about two of the investigators of his case and their illegal activities.  However, since he was suspected of being corrupt himself, his motives were questionable and therefore no action has been taken as a result of the information in the VCD.
• (China Times)  (November 1, 2005)  In the case of the infamous Chu Mei-Feng VCD, a lawyer is demanding an apology from a witness plus NT$2 million in damages for defaming him.  Specifically, the witness is alleged to have accused the lawyer of coaching her testimony.  The court has turned the lawyer's request down, on the grounds that the witness is not responsible for the headlines that the newspapers come up with, and there is no evidence in the actual testimony that she said anything like "the lawyer wanted them to provide false testimony."